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Originally Posted by ashby_1963  I try to recycle all my containers but the Council insists that they are free from all traces of food. I am concerned that the environmental damage caused by the dertergent and hot water needed to achieve this completely negates the benefit of receycling the container. Any thoughts? |
Using domestic clean heated water to wash material for recycling processing is almost certainly a 'poor' environmental practice. There are some alternatives, the most obvious is the use of 'grey water', at its simplest this is just washing out tins etc with the very last of the water from normal washing up. It is also possible to adapt waste pipe out flow - particularly from washing machines, to rinse tins, bottles etc over an external drain, similarly with rainwater. A more radical solution is using tins as slug/snail traps, or even making a snail box to work in the same manner as a wormery, these of course are only seasonally viable.
Perhaps most importantly, if it is the case that a product is proving 'expensive' to recycle, then a search for an alternative may be the best solution and consumer choice can be an important motivator in this so buying fressh product rather than tinned/bottled could in some circumstances be the sound environmental solution.
CM